Delete and Block: Benjamin Jorden’s Approach to Governance
Trying to get an answer from the “Transparency” and “Unity” candidate
This opinion piece is part of a series ahead of the Delmar, Maryland local election.
I made my first attempt to speak with Delmar mayoral candidate Benjamin Jorden on Sept. 8. When he finally deigned to take my call on Nov. 9 we spoke for nearly 40 minutes before it ended, let’s say, “abruptly.”
In the intervening months he and running mate Cory Shaffer occasionally responded to my requests to speak by telling me they were too busy to talk.
I get it. No one challenges your specious claims when you’re out glad-handing.
Their campaign rhetoric they said they would talk to anyone and anytime. I think they meant “almost” anyone at anytime.
The real concern, though, is that their approach, a combination of dodging questions while making misleading and inaccurate claims, seems to be working. And they know it, so they’re keeping it up.
There’s a very good chance that Jorden’s slate will be elected as an instant majority and quorum. After that, they can do what they want and they technically wouldn’t have made any promises that they didn’t keep.
Jacob Boothe, the one member of their proposed triumvirate who is open to answering questions, literally said as much.
Boothe doesn’t like when politicians make promises and then get elected and don’t keep them. His approach, as he said in this interview, is to not make any promises; after he is elected, he says he’ll figure out what he can do and then do it.
It’s honest, if not confidence-inspiring.
Unity Through Faith
Recently, Jorden’s supporters sent out an attack ad exploiting the police department. While Jorden said he had a few guesses about who mailed it, he hadn’t confronted anyone about it. Now he can genuinely claim he doesn’t know who sent it (without lying), while reaping the benefit of those lies.
Meanwhile town meetings have devolved into chaos as Jorden’s supporters (many of whom live in Delaware and can’t vote in the coming election) shout abuse at the current mayor and commissioners throughout the proceedings.
To be fair, some of the rage is real and deserved, but much of it is also (and poorly) manufactured.
It seems convenient to take advantage of bad behavior by his supporters while claiming to promote unity. Just as remaining ignorant doesn’t (strictly speaking) make you a liar, ignoring divisiveness doesn’t (strictly-speaking) make you a force for division.
For a person who claims to be the town’s personal savior when it comes to restoring unity, it is odd that Jorden’s campaign thrives on rancor. He wants voters to believe that he will bring unity after he’s elected while his entire platform is built on discord.
Clear as Mud
In my effort to get Jorden and Shaffer to answer questions about their tactics and approach, I called them out on their campaign’s Facebook page. I’m not proud of that, but I genuinely didn’t want their misinformation tactics to go unchallenged.
I figured that since one of their platform points was to bring greater transparency (whatever that means), asking them a public question would at least get me an answer.
Instead, they deleted my question and turned off my ability to comment on their page. What’s troubling about that is one of the primary allegations against current mayor is that she turned off the town Facebook comments to suppress dissent.
Still, unchallenged (and unchallengable) Facebook posts are the only access Jorden and Shaffer will allow. Their approach to dissent is to delete and block.
To be clear, I do not feel singled out. Since announcing their candidacy they haven’t spoken with any news outlets. They’re content to let their supporters sling mud on their behalf and to sit silently as misinformation undermines the current administration.
If Jorden’s campaign is successful, no one will know what he’s going to do until he and his cohort decide to do it. Once they decide, no one will be able to stop them.
Tomorrow: Mudslinging This Close to the State Line Is Really Ill-Advised
Tony Russo is a journalist and author of “Dragged Into the Light: Truthers, Reptilians, Super Soldiers, and Death Inside an Online Cult.” Subscribe to his Bagel Manifesto here.
